Thursday, January 28, 2010

Dancing or skating, girl just wants to have fun

Nicole Perry, 14, of Raynham. Nicole Perry, 14, of Raynham. (Michael Tureski/Sportspix)

By Justin A. Rice
Globe Correspondent / January 28, 2010

Nicole Perry will not choose between her two passions, figure skating and dancing.

“Everybody asks me that question,’’ said Perry, a freshman at Bridgewater-Raynham Regional who captured a gold medal at the Bay State Winter Games this past weekend in Williamstown.

“I’d probably quit both. Everybody asks me that when I say I dance. I couldn’t choose. I honestly couldn’t.’’

And both of her coaches, John Mucko and Roland Bessette, believe Perry’s background in competitive dance is what makes the young skater so graceful on ice.

“Nicole is known for her artistry,’’ said Mucko, who has worked with Perry at the Pilgrim Skating Club in Pembroke for nine years. “She’s just a true performer. Technically, she’s just clean, and she’s a strong skater.

“Having that dance behind her really enhances her performance level as well as her artistry. She’s just in a class all of her own.’’

From a logistical standpoint, however, there are only so many hours in the day. Perry also skates out of the Bourne Skating Club and with the Elite Skating Club in Raynham and dances with Studio C Dance Academy in Taunton.

The honor-roll student says she spends about 11 hours a week on each endeavor.

“For me that’s what makes her so grounded,’’ Mucko said. “She has two things she loves in life and devotes equal time to each of them. Would I like to see her on the ice seven days a week? That would be great, but she has other things that keep her grounded, and that’s what makes her what she is.’’

Bessette, who also chairs the US Figure Skating Program Development committee, couldn’t agree more.

“Everybody likes to win, but our goal is to constantly keep skating challenging and fun,’’ Bessette said. “With her balance between dance and skating, she’s able to enjoy what she does in skating. You always get more when someone enjoys what they’re doing rather than when it becomes a job. Everybody’s goals are different. Everybody trains differently as well. For right now this is what makes her happy.’’

Bessette said competing in all forms of dance, including hip-hop, jazz, and ballet, helps her more than if she just focused on one technique such as ballet. He said Perry’s range allows her to interpret and move more freely to music than most skaters.

How far can Perry go?

“That’s something only Nicole can answer for herself,’’ said Bessette. “If her goals are to be good at what she’s doing and be competitive, and she’s reaching it, then fine. If she decides at some point when she gets into a higher level that [skating more] might make a difference, that’s okay.

“She obviously has lot of talent, and a lot of it will depend on what she wants. If we start putting on too many demands, especially at that age, she’ll quit and we’ll lose her forever. At some point if she decides ‘I want to do more with skating,’ she’ll be able to make that decision.’’

The 14-year-old might have to make that decision soon. At the Bay State Games, Perry won gold in the artistic solo and finished fourth in the intermediate free skate.

Over the summer she captured two gold medals and a bronze at the 2009 State Games of American held in Colorado Springs.

Perry, who also performs theater on ice, was invited to perform in the Bay State Skate Figure Skating Show for the third straight year last weekend.

“It went great,’’ she said of the show. “There were lots of people watching. It’s always fun. This year was the 25th anniversary, so it was a bigger show with lots of awards.

“I love doing the show. I definitely want to keep doing it.’’

Perry, who recently attended a national competition with her dance troop in Sturbridge, Conn., said sometimes scheduling conflicts do arise between dance and skating.

“We try to work it out,’’ she said. “I do my best to do both. They try to make me choose, but I’m not going to.’’

And as far as her skating career is concerned, Perry just wants to take it as far as she can go - without giving up dance, that is.

“I don’t want to say Olympics because everybody says that,’’ she said. “But I’ll work as hard as I can to get as far as I can but have fun doing it. Because if you’re not having fun, why do it?’’

© Copyright 2010 The New York Times Company

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